


Work In Progress

by Satan (THEfanofstuff)



Category: Doctor Who & Related Fandoms
Genre: F/M, M/M, Multi, OT3, Queerplatonic Relationships, Season 2 Rewrite
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-06
Updated: 2021-01-06
Packaged: 2021-03-17 10:53:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,453
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28598763
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/THEfanofstuff/pseuds/Satan
Summary: I got a prompt by a friend to do QP3 Rose/Doctor/Jack, and so here this is.The three of them all felt like an outcast, at some point or another. They'd also all felt special at least one point in their lives, but for some reason, they'd never felt so special as when they had each other. Jack knew that there was something more to it, but he was afraid to name it in case he scared Afraid Of Commitment Doctor and early 2000's supposedly cishet Rose off. Rose was scared of having to move on if or when she was left behind, and the Doctor was just scared to love.
Relationships: Jack Harkness/Rose Tyler, Ninth Doctor/Rose Tyler, Tenth Doctor/Jack Harkness, Tenth Doctor/Jack Harkness/Rose Tyler, Tenth Doctor/Rose Tyler
Comments: 2
Kudos: 13





	Work In Progress

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ughdotcom](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ughdotcom/gifts).



Her mum thought he was a cradle-robber, a bloody cradle-robber! He’d been slapped! And yeah, she may have been a bit more right about it  _ if _ they were in anything but a completely ordinary friendship! And yeah, maybe she was a bit prettier or smarter or more competent than the rest of the apes in his eyes, but that’s just because she was! It was a fact. There was something about Rose Tyler that was special, something beyond what almost any human he’d met had, past companions notwithstanding. But he wasn’t, didn’t, date. He didn’t date, he didn’t fall in love, and he didn’t marry, most certainly not someone who was young enough to be his descendant. 

Rose Tyler was exceptional, but he wouldn’t make an exception for her, not on that. And if that personal declaration right as he turned to see her smile as they sat together on the roof made him feel a bit odd, a bit empty, well. He’d felt empty for a long, long while now. He could deal with a bit more if it meant having her with him. 

The Doctor Dances 

She was aware their relationship wasn’t normal. Meeting Jack, flirting, dancing atop an invisible spaceship, should have felt like a novel experience. She should have been surprised and flustered by the feeling of romance, the flare in her chest and the pull in her fingers when she looked at him. She’d been with the doctor, without romance, for a while now, and hadn’t felt it with Mickey for a while longer. 

Instead, it’d barely been new. It was the same feeling she got when she and the Doctor had a particularly close escape, or in the quieter moments, when they sat reading in the library together. She’d lay her head in his lap, perfectly content, and read a Jane Austen book. He’d have a cup of tea to the side, a book in a language she couldn’t read propped on the armrest, his other arm serving to prop up her book so she didn’t have to do that awful neck scrunching thing. 

Where was she? Ah, yes. Captain Jack. 

The man who she’d run through the halls of the hospital with looking for the Doctor, the man who’d not been too proud to do a search for alien tech. The man who’d been definitely impressed when the Doctor had stolen his gun, rather than affronted. The man who’d then disappeared into thin air and left her with an alien in a dunce hat trying to resonate concrete. The nerve of these two. 

_ The tension between these two. _ She smirked to herself, thinking about how much Jack had gotten the Doctor on edge. It wasn’t the best for her, he seemed to be doing that man thing where he thought she couldn’t have male friends, even though they weren’t even dating. He was jealous. Mickey had gotten that way all the time, so unfortunately she could recognize the signs. But Jack wasn’t jealous. In fact, Rose wasn’t sure if Jack was capable of being jealous, though she had just met him, so she couldn’t say for sure. 

That still left the mystery of what was up with him, though. 

And then the radio screeched, and her thoughts came back to the situation at hand. 

He’d survived. He certainly hadn’t expected to, and thus was halfway to sloshed when the TARDIS had appeared in the rear of his ship. He was considering an unusual side effect of hallucinating two beautiful people coming to rescue him, or maybe this was just his afterlife, but waking up after dancing with them to Glen Miller with a slight buzz left and a roaring headache convinced him. 

The lights of the room he slept in were dimmed but he was still able to see that it looked an awful lot like his private quarters at the academy, with the military furniture and cleanliness, but an old trench coat that he’d definitely only gotten post-retiring folded over the chair. 

He stumbled out of bed into the en suite, popped some leftover painkillers from his pant pocket, brushed his teeth, and showered. He might have been saved by these people, but they were liars just as much as he was, and he’d be damned to show weakness in front of them. Plus, they were just so pretty. He couldn’t try to seduce them with bad breath and greasy hair. 

Things immediately became moot upon his finding the kitchen, however. 

They weren’t business partners, they were  _ partners. _

The Doctor moved around Rose at a slow, vulnerable pace, making the startings of breakfast on the counter next to her. She was sitting on it, her eyes barely open and a cup of tea in her hand, still waking up. And yet, she looked at him with such devotion, such trust. He saw how the Doctor had to turn his head any time he heard a smile in her voice, needing to catch the sight just one more time, just one more. 

Jack had only felt that twice before. 

The Doctor’s hand was on her knee, and he shook it a little as he spoke in a low teasing voice. She hummed out a laugh, leaning back to rest her head against the cabinets and look down at him, murmuring a reply. 

The whole scene was so warm, so soft, that Jack almost turned to give them their ritual alone, for how could he intrude upon this? This was so much more than him. So much more beautiful. 

“Jack?” Rose called in her low, scratchy voice. Her eyes were suddenly on him, but the Doctor only glanced his way, looking back at the food with a soft smile on his face. Jack took that smile as enough permission to enter, to intrude upon their life. After all, the Doctor could communicate well enough what he wanted. What was it Rose had said? No arguing with the designated driver?

Instead of answering, he moved towards her, planning to lean against the counter next to her. She reached out for him, and he found himself pulled in, a kiss that was barely more than a smile pressed to his cheek before she wrapped her arms around him and leaned forward. 

He hadn’t been expecting that, and backed up a bit, allowing her just enough room to slide off the counter and give him a proper hug. 

“Morning, Jack.” He felt her voice rumble in her chest, and he looked at the Doctor in surprise. The man just smirked, flicking him on the forehead. “Yes, good morning, Captain.”

The window, which had to be fake, they were in space, let in warm morning sunlight. And if Jack didn’t know better, he swore he felt welcomed for the first time since leaving home. 

The Doctor had asked where he wanted to go for his first trip over breakfast, and it hadn’t taken much to decide. He hadn’t been able return to his home since he’d left the agency, too afraid they’d track him there and go after his family. He wasn’t sure he wanted to see them, exactly, they weren’t anything special, it’s just that they hadn’t really done anything to deserve being hunted down for his actions. 

There was something he remembered fondly, however. The skirt festival, which he went to every year after his thirteenth birthday, was always a place of wonder and excitement for younger him. It had just started becoming important to the general community, and he’d enjoyed it so much. 

“The year 5101, Planet of Boe. They have this wonderful festival, truly magnificent. Come on, we’ll need to get dressed.” Rose was grinning, excited, and Jack knew with one look at that face, the Doctor would cave. 

“Alright, you two go ahead. Don’t take too long. We don’t want to miss the festival.”

“Nuh-uh, sir. You’ll need to change too, you can’t go looking like that.” Jack replied, sharing a look with Rose that made her grin even wider.

“What? What’s wrong with my outfit?” He asked, genuinely offended. Jack stood from his chair and leaned over the Doctor, looking down at his pants and back up to his face, appreciating the slight blush. 

“Why, it’s a skirt festival, Doctor. I wouldn’t exactly call trousers a skirt, would you?” And with that he strolled confidently out of the room despite having no idea where the wardrobe was. Behind him, he heard the Doctor give a quiet “shut up.” and Rose giggling at him. 

He figures out later that they’re just like that with everybody. That they just want him as a friend. Of course, this is after they’re on the run because the Doctor looked down on someone’s skirt, showing his off and preaching how easy it is to run in. 

They were talking to another group of travelers, who mentioned Jack being their boyfriend. They both laughed it off(well, the Doctor scoffed) and explained that they weren’t dating him, either of them. Which was fine, of course. A bit disappointing, but fine. It’s not as if he thought they were, it was just that he’d hoped… well. It didn’t matter what he’d hoped. They were nice people, and they’d saved his life twice now. 

He’d take what he could get. 

Boom Town

He left her once, just once, and she’d gone off and gotten herself not one, but two new boyfriends! Honestly. And like he said, he could get the Captain, as much as he was jealous, well. He could understand. But Mr. Big Ears, I’m Old Enough to Be Your Father and Oops, I’m an Alien in Disguise? He was kind of an asshole, too! It was just ridiculous. It wasn’t like he’d treated her badly, … or so he thought. Sure, he’d been a bit distant. And maybe he really liked to watch the game, but he rarely yelled, if ever, and he refused to get violent in any manner towards her. She deserved better than that. But he was starting to realise just how low that bar was. 

He sat next to her at the chippy, feeling like he had before they started dating, all sensitive and rubbed raw, and he hated it. The Captain was telling one of his tales and Rose was playing along, and it reminded him of when she would listen to his recounting of his DnD campaign with his mates, except apparently this was real, and much more interesting, apparently. 

He wanted her to be happy, he really did. But they hadn’t even broken up, hadn’t talked about it, and when he imagined her with either of them, his heart rebelled. 

Taking out the Slitheen with a bucket later made him feel a little better, but in the end he just wanted to go home and lick his wounds. 

He told her so and headed out, tired and sad. He loved her. But apparently that wasn’t enough. And he had to come to terms with that. 

Bad Wolf

Everything was going relatively okay. Then Rose disappeared, died, right in front of them, and things took a turn. The Doctor got quieter. They were arrested, and Jack knew he was planning something, because he hadn’t given into despair yet. But he was closer to it than Jack had seen him, even when they’d faced a premature end to the world via zombies. The whole Earth didn’t compare to Rose Tyler. And now she was gone.

The most likely plan would be to break out and tear the place to the ground, so Jack was ready when the Doctor gave the que, but he was still angry. She hadn’t been as much to him, but he’d seen her radiance, and she hadn’t deserved that. On a selfish level, he was angry that he’d gotten a chance at one of the most amazing futures with those two, and they’d taken it away from him. He hadn’t even gotten a week. 

The discovery of the transport beam was one of the most important things he’d ever found. 

The Doctor was going to burn this place to the ground. They’d taken lives, too many lives, and then she’d won, and they’d still taken hers. He’d tried to distance himself, he knew this was coming eventually, but it was too soon. He needed more time. And they’d taken it. So he would take their time. Specifically, the rest of their lives, starting now. He was a Timelord, after all. They should thank him for not doing it sooner. 

Rose didn’t know where she was, but she was scared and alone. It was a holding room, of sorts. It looked similar to the holding cell she’d been in when she stole from Henricksons as a kid. Her mum had chewed her out for so long. It was back before she had her own room, too, so she’d been confined to their shared room, which had made it awkward. 

But her mum wasn’t here now, and she probably wasn’t going to be seeing her again. 

Rose was scared. 

Things went to shit really fast. They got Rose back, but now a supposedly extinct race of murderous nonhumanoids was attacking, and they had some of the strongest specs Jack had ever seen. He’d thought he’d lost them once already, however, so he pressed a firm, tender kiss to the Doctor’s lips and clung to Rose as he gave her one. 

_ I’ll come back, I promise. _ He was never good at promises.  _ I love you. I’m sorry.  _

And for the third time in his life, he left to go to war, not expecting to return. And in a way, he didn’t. 

He’d sent Rose away. It was to save her, but also so she wouldn’t see him fail. He knew he would. He was a coward over a killer, any time. He’d felt the TARDIS’ disapproval right before he’d sent them away. She knew he was being an idiot again. He did that sometimes. Like the time where he’d planned to blow up a retail store without escaping first. She’d been there, in his head, screaming at him, but it had been the presence of a pink and yellow human that had stopped him. And he knew now that he couldn’t sacrifice her in the hope she could do so again. 

_ How dare he.  _ Rose was so done with men being stupid. So she fought her way back to him, to give him a piece of her mind. She did the impossible, because someone had to, and because she was used to doing it. If anyone was going to save the Doctor and Jack, it was going to be her. 

But in a way, she failed. 

**Author's Note:**

> I'm planning on posting this in 3 parts, season 1, season 2, and epilogue/start of 3. I'm about halfway done with 2 right now which puts me close to 2/3s of the way through the entire fic, but I felt bad and wanted to get the start of it out there so y'all could start reading it.


End file.
